Mask Gallery I

1. Masks have been used in Mexico since the pre-Hispanic age. Most of them were made of carved and polychrome wood. Some of them only covered the face. Tiger (jaguar) or eagle “helmets” have also been found which covered all the head. Warriors believed that when they wore eagle or jaguar outfits and masks, they got physical qualities of these animals.


2. One of the most impressive pre-Hispanic masks is the one found on 1952 in the Inscription Temple of Palenque (Chiapas). This mask shows cult to the dead and appears in almost all funeral ceremonies. The mask is made with jade mosaic and nacre incrustations in the iris.


3. Masks from Teotihuacan are carved on jade, jadeite, andesite and other stones. Most of them have nacre and obsidian incrustations in the eyes. They were not used for dances but they were a part of the funeral offering and were placed on the dead's face.


4. Many monumental masks have been found in Veracruz with feline features. The Olmecan culture produced many masks of this kind.


5. Dances appear with the first inhabitants of Mexico. The most ancient ones are dedicated to the sun and the moon. Later on, warrior, ritual and mystical dances appeared. Many of them were performed on established dates and were dedicated to fecundity or agriculture. Nowadays, most religious parties are dedicated to a patron saint. In them, some dances are performed in which masks are one of the most important parts of the disguise.


6. Texcutiani means “the one who makes others take a face, a personality…” In some Mexican towns, masks are inherited and form an important part of the family patrimony.


7. In the native world, each man has his nahual which is his animal twin. The universe also has its nahual, like the rabbit, tiger or jaguar on the moon whose spots represent the sky. Nahuales appear in masks and dances.


8. A legend tells that when great Quetzalcoatl was conquered, he was forced to look at himself in a mirror so he got frightened with the wrinkles on his face. He made his adoring paint his body, decorate it with feathers and cover his face with a turquoise serpents mask.


9. Viceroy Don Juan de Acuña completely forbids the use of masks. Everything that covered a part or the whole face was considered a mask. That law also prohibited that man dressed like women, or women like men, even in dances. It was given in Mexico City on December 20, 1731 and was made for the whole New Spain. It is kept in the General Nation File, Bandos, Vol.2, Leg. 25. The punishment was from two hundred whips to two years in jail for Spaniards if they did not proof being sons of hidalgos (Sapanish parents) The ones who were so, had six years in prison and the ones of “broken color” got whips and six years of chores. The legislator considered useful to give certain “freedom” to the one who applied the punishment, so it was authorized to impose other penalties “according to circumstances”. Don Juan de Acuña left New Spain and his crew became famous in History for never following Justice. It seems that what bothered the viceroy the most was that men dressed like women and vice versa.


10. For pre-Hispanic culture, the existence of the world was related to a 52-years cycle. At the end of it, the “new fire” must be initiated. The “star dance” or big wheel was the festivity in which the “new fire” was turned on. In the information given by chroniclers, star dance is described as the most important one of great Tenochtitlan.



11. The Dance of San Juan Totolac is also known as the Ribbon dance because at the end as many ribbons as dancers participate are tied to the end of a large wood stick which is nailed on the ground. Dancers move with the ribbon in their hand and they weave them following the music. According to chroniclers, native ladies with Spanish conquerors shared this dance. Female masks are used carved on wood with European features; light color glass eyes and large eyelashes made with natural hair.